Major League Baseball has announced the dates and destinations for its MLB World Tour 2024, with games to take place in London, Mexico City, Seoul and Santo Domingo.
The 2024 MLB season will kick off in Seoul, with the first-ever regular season games played in South Korea, as the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will play two games on March 20 and 21.
Ahead of those season openers, the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays will play the first-ever games in the Dominican Republic on March 9 and 10 during Spring training.
Both the United Kingdom and Mexico have successfully hosted regular season games in 2023 and have been rewarded with repeat visits next year. The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies will meet June 8 and 9 in London, a year on from the return of the MLB London Series last month.
That had prompted claims that more European games would be scheduled but so far the London repeat is the only one scheduled for 2024.
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies will play in Mexico City on April 27 and 28 after the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres met in April this year, with the Padres taking the win that time.
Strong Enthusiasm Around The Globe
“Major League Baseball is incredibly excited for this extensive slate of international games in 2024,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “Our recent efforts have produced strong enthusiasm around the globe, and we look forward to building on that foundation with returns to Mexico City and London, while also opening the season in Korea for the first time.
“In addition, we can’t wait to celebrate the tradition of the sport in the Dominican Republic with our visit to Santo Domingo next March. We are thrilled that our fans across four different countries outside the United States and Canada will have the opportunity to see the game’s stars.”
The Seoul Series may be the first regular-season games played in South Korea, but they will represent the ninth time that the season openers have been played outside the USA and Canada, that having happened for the first time in 1999 when the Rockies met the Padres in Monterrey, Mexico.
Since then there have been five season openers in Tokyo, Japan (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2019) while the 2001 opener between the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays took place in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Sydney, Australia was the host of the 2014 opener between the Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Expanding International Appeal
All of this comes as MLB attempts to expand its international appeal, with up to 16 exhibition games planned as part of the World Tour between 2023 and 2026 as well as 24 regular-season games.
Meanwhile, with the MLB All-Star Game having seen the National League All-Star Team win 3-2 against the American League All-Stars, focus in baseball is turning to the upcoming MLB trade deadline on Tuesday August 1.
The likes of Tim Anderson, Nolan Arenado and Cody Bellinger are being named as likely trade candidates as teams look to add their rosters to prepare for the race for the playoffs.
Written and distributed by Chat T Sports.
